Page 116 of Hot for the Jerk

He stood there in silence, unmoving, unblinking for an agonizing moment.

I punched him in the shoulder.“Jagger!What do we do now?”

“They’re not going to the school,” he said, almost under his breath.

“What do you mean?”

“They’re not going to the school.They’re going to stop the bus and take him by force.”

“How do you know?”How the hell did he know all this?Was he in on it?

Oh, for fuck’s sake.Of course he’s not in on it.Just like he didn’t snoop on your computer.Pickford’s words of bringing more danger to the McEvoy family doorstep and endangering an entire other family, and six other children, sent you into a vortex of shame and doubt and you did what you always do—run.You picked a fight with Jagger and ended it in order to keep his family safe.In order to keep your heart safe.Trust him.For fuck’s sake, trust him.

“Get in the truck,” he ordered me, running back around to the driver’s side.

“What?Why?We’re blocked.”

“No, we’re not.Just … let me try something.”

I climbed into the passenger seat, my fingers trembling and barely able to function as I tried to buckle my belt.

“Fasten your seat belt,” he said, cradling my headrest and glancing behind him as he backed up, but into the other lane.

“I’m trying,” I hollered, the male portion of the belt going every which way butintothe female part of the belt.

He slammed on the brakes again, causing me to lurch forward in my seat and have to brace myself on the dash.Barely waiting for me to sit back again, he reached over and buckled the belt for me, then proceeded to back up more.

“You’re not actually thinking about jumping that log, are you?”I asked.“It’s like two feet in diameter.”

“Hold on,” he said, having backed up a significant distance.

“Jagger, I am not doing this.You are not doing this.Weare not doing this!”

But he didn’t gun it like I thought he would.Instead, he turned to the left and went in through the bushes and shrubbery.Branches knocked and gouged the side of his vehicle, and smacked the windows as he skirted around the thickest part of the evergreen tree, to where it naturally tapered toward the top and he was able to successfully rev the engine and gather enough momentum that the tires went up and over the narrow trunk like it was a speed bump.

He slowed down and scarcely missed driving head-on into a thin alder trunk by taking a sharp turn to the right, just in the nick of time.We were back on the road and racing toward the ferry as fast as we could.

Jagger took a left at the next fork and nearly rear-ended the bus, which was stopped in the middle of the road, red lights flashing.

I bailed out of the truck, Jagger too, just as Myla pulled up in her cruiser behind us, lights and sirens going wild.

I banged my fists on the closed door, then peered inside through the long, narrow windows.Palmer Figgs, the bus driver, was not in his seat.

Was he in on this too?

Stop thinking everyone is out to get you.Is out to get your kid.

“Uncle Jagger!”cried a little girl’s voice.

We glanced up to find Emme, having opened one of the bus windows.“Two men, they stopped the bus, came on with knives, and took Mr.Figgs and Marco.”

It was like someone dumped a bucket of ice water on me.Spreading down my spine like a venomous spider with icicles for legs.My shoulders were the first to lock, then my legs, as that spider’s toxin slowly paralyzed me.

“Emme, sweetheart, is everyone else okay?”Jagger asked.

“Yeah, just scared.Are Mr.Figgs and Marco going to be okay?”

“You need to open the door, Emme,” Myla said.“There’s a button there.You’ve seen Mr.Figgs push it before, right?”

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